Though the index remained in the red most of the day, strong buying pressure in the last hour of trading pushed it up nearly four points.

This is the 11th session the index has stayed in the 1,200-range as the country imposes strict social distancing measures in major localities amid surging Covid-19 cases.

Trading value on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, plunged nearly 17 percent to VND16.14 trillion ($702 million). The bourse saw 190 stocks gain and 182 lose.

The VN30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 16 tickers gain, led by NVL of real estate developer Novaland Group with a 4.4 percent increase.

The ticker is now at an over two-week high, having risen over 223 percent this year.

FPT of IT giant FPT Corporation rose to a new peak, its third consecutive session in the green. The ticker has shot up 184 percent this year.

It was followed by PDR of Phat Dat Real Estate Development, up 2.1 percent, and KDH of real estate firm Khang Dien House, up 2 percent.

On the losing side, VPB of private lender VPBank dropped 3.1 percent, while MBB of MBBank fell 2 percent.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, gained 0.37 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market fell 0.59 percent.